USA > New York > Dutchess County > The history of Dutchess County, New York > Part 69
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JOHN V. O'FARRELL.
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time to time, so that it is now $300,000. Steam was introduced six years ago, and the business had grown to nearly a million dollars in 1907. Previous to that time the company had built a new dam just below what is known as Wolcott Bridge, and this gave rise to a long litigation with the Rotherys, who had operated file works on the creek above for many years. The dispute was finally adjusted.
Mr. John P. Rider, president of the company, became connected with the indus- try in 1863, holding the office of Secretary, with headquarters in New York until 1883, when, after the death of Henry A. Alden, he was made Vice-president, and manager of the works at Fishkill.
The other officers are John Acken, Vice-president, Henry Montgomery, 2d Vice- President, Rufus A. Brown, Secretary and Treasurer.
The plant gives employment to 250 persons.
DANIEL O'CONNELL, a prominent citizen residing at Barrytown, N. Y., was born in the town of Red Hook in 1860, and attended the schools of his native place. He served four years as an operator for the New York Central Railroad, and in 1883 was appointed station agent at Barrytown. He has also held the office of Postmaster at Barrytown since Cleveland's second administration, and has taken an active part in all matters pertaining to the welfare of this village. Mr. O'Connell is a trustee of the Sacred Heart Church, and a member of Florentine Council, Knights of Columbus.
JOHN V. O'FARRELL was born in the county of Waterford, Ireland, March 2, 1845. In 1848 his parents came to America, locating at Wappingers Falls, N. Y., where he received his education in the public schools. At an early age he was em- ployed in the Print Works of that village, and in August, 1864, he enlisted in the Third New York Calvary, and served until the end of the Civil War, being mustered out at Suffolk, Va. He then returned to Wappingers Falls and learned the carpen- ters trade and began business for himself as contractor and builder, which occupa- tion he filled continuously for thirty years.
Mr. O'Farrell was for a time also interested in the ice business. In 1906 he re- tired from an active business career, At the present time he is vice-president of the Wappingers Falls National Bank.
Politically Mr. O'Farrell has always been a consistent Republican, and has taken an active part in the affairs of that party in Dutchess county. He has served two terms as assessor of the town of Poughkeepsie, and nine years as trustee of the vil- lage of Wappingers Falls, and is now serving his fourth term as Supervisor of the town of Wappingers. He is a former chief of the village fire department.
In 1867 he was united in marriage with Mary A. Downey, and to them have been born six children: Vincent, Leo, Joseph, Raymond, Marie and Emmet.
FRANK S. ORMSBEE, attorney, of Madalin, N. Y., was born in the town of Windham, Greene county, N. Y., March 20, 1844. He obtained his preliminary education at Ashland Collegiate Institute, Windham, and studied law in the office. of D. K. Olney of Catskill, graduating in the year 1865 from the Albany Law School, when he was admitted to the Bar. In 1869 Mr. Ormsbee took up his residence at.
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Madalin, Dutchess county, where he has continuously made his home. Politically he is a Republican, and has held the office of Supervisor of the town of Red Hook for two consecutive terms,-1881-'82. The last term he was chairman of the Board.
In 1877 Mr. Ormsbee was united in marriage with Mary C. Wagner of Columbia county, N. Y.
DR. JOHN HAVILAND OTIS was born at Harts Village, Dutchess County New York, July 27th, 1871, son of Dr. John C. and Catharine Haviland Otis. He with his parents removed to Poughkeepsie, January 1, 1872. Educated at private schools he graduated at Riverview Military Academy in 1888, and immediately took up the study of medicine entering the New York Homeopathic Medical Col- lege in that year, and was graduated in 1892. He commenced practice with his father at Poughkeepsie immediately after graduating. In October 1894 he married Miss Louise N. Smith also of Poughkeepsie, and she with three children, Anna Smith, aged 10, John Hunting, aged 7, and Catharine Haviland, aged 5, survive him. During his absorbing professional career he gave special attention to diseases of children. Almost every year he took a course in Post Graduate in New York. He was a member of New York State Homeopathic Medical Society, President of the Dutchess County Homeopathic Medical Society, member of the Tri-County Homeopathic Medical Society of Dutchess, Orange and Ulster Counties, and the Alumni Society of the New York Homeopathic Medical College. He was also a Mason and Knight of Phythias. For several years he was attending physician at the City Home, and at the time of his death one of the Charity Commissioners. Repeated attacks of rheumatism finally produced valvular heart disease which he bravely combatted for several years, but finally in 1905 he began to first show signs of serious trouble. He continued the practice of his profession with slight in- terruptions up to the first part of January 1907, when a severe attack of La Grippe disabled him, and he went south for several weeks, but the unprecedented heat there greatly weakened him, and on his return home serious liver and kidney com- plications supervened from which he partially rallied, but the onset of extreme hot weather gradually reduced his strength, heart stimulants failed, and in the early morning of June 30, 1907 the end came. His labors ceased, and he is at rest.
GEORGE OVEROCKER, attorney, was born in the town of Poughkeepsie, November 28, 1875. He finished his academic studies in the Poughkeepsie High School and St. Stephen's College, Annandale, N. Y. He read law in the office of Stephen G. Guernsey, Poughkeepsie, and was admitted to the Bar June 1894. Politically Mr. Overocker is a Republican, and held the office of Justice of the Peace in Poughkeepsie for two years; he was deputy County Clerk for Dutchess county from 1901 to 1906. He is a member of the Amrita and Dutchess Clubs.
HENRY F. OWSLEY, M. D. was born in Ohio in 1870, and educated in the schools of his native State, including the Rayne School at Youngstown, O. He pursued his medical studies at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, from which he was graduated with the degree of M. D., and received an appoint-
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ment as interne surgeon to Bellevue Hospital, 1897 to 1899. He was engaged in the practice of his profession in New York City until 1908, when he removed to Green Haven, Dutchess county. Dr. Owsley is a member of the Medical Society of Dutchess county; the New York State Medical Society, and the Alumni of Bellevue Hospital.
Socially he is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, and is a member of the New York Yacht Club.
CHARLES B. PALMER was born in the town of Thurman, Warren county, N. Y., September 16, 1868. After finishing his studies at Fort Edward Institute he came to Dutchess county (July, 1891) to accept a position.as book-keeper with the Dutchess Manufacturing Company. He was made credit manager of this concern in 1896, and June 1, 1907, was elected a member of the board of trustees. The same year he was appointed secretary and treasurer of the company.
Mr. Palmer was united in marriage with Miss Nellis M. Cannon of Poughkeepsie in 1889, and they are the parents of two children: Julia Evelyn and Charles B., Jr.
Socially Mr. Palmer is a member of Triune Lodge, No. 782, F. & A. M .; Lodge No. 275, B. P. O. E. He is a member of the Amrita Club, Poughkeepsie; the New York Athletic Club, and in religious belief is affiliated with the Congregational church.
EDWARD E. PERKINS, attorney, and chairman of the Dutchess County Demo- cratic Committee, was born in the town of Poughkeepsie February 4, 1863. He acquired his early education in the schools of his native town, and at the age of fifteen entered the Pelham Institute, Poughkeepsie. After finishing his prelim- inary studies he read law in the office of O. D. M. Baker, and was admitted to the Bar in 1886; he began the practice of his profession in Poughkeepsie. In 1887 Mr. Perkins was one of the organizers of the Poughkeepsie & Eastern Railroad Co., and was elected its first president and treasurer. In 1890 he went to Texas and engaged in reorganizing and building an extension of the Fort Worth & Rio Grande Railroad from Comanche to Brownwood. He then became associated with Mr. T. L. Massalis of Dallas, Texas, in the completion and extension of the Dallas & Oak Cliff Railroad, and later in the building of the West Dallas Railroad, of which Mr. Perkins became president. While residing in Dallas he was elected president of the American Savings Bank and Trust Company, and was selected by the Travellers' Insurance Company of Hartford, Conn., for their financial and loan representative of the State of Texas. In 1893 he organized the American National Bank, of which he held the office of vice-president. The same year he returned to his native town and resumed the practice of his profession. In 1909 Mr. Perkins was chosen pres- ident of the First National Bank of Poughkeepsie. He is also president of the Enterprise Publishing Co.
June 23, 1891 he was united in marriage with Mary D. Beard of Poughkeepsie, and three children have been born to them: Olive E., Jeannie Marie and Argenta.
EDMUND SCHOFIELD PHILLIPS, deceased, the first lawyer to locate at Matteawan, N. Y., was born in the town of Wappinger, (then Fishkill) December 6,
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1836, and was educated in the public schools of Dutchess county. In 1862 he set- tled at Matteawan, and resided there until his death, July 23, 1898.
Mr. Phillips held the office of Justice of the Peace in Matteawan from 1863 to 1867, when he was admitted to the Bar and began the practice of his profession. He was united in marriage with Miss Rebecca Onderdonk of Matteawan, and the following children were born to them: William O. who died in infancy; Samuel K .. Eleanor; Sherwood, and Eveline Gertrude (Bishop).
JARVIS S. PHILLIPS, farmer and auctioneer, residing near Hopewell Junction, N. Y., was born in the town of East Fishkill March 21, 1853, a son of William W. and Mary M. Phillips. Besides cultivating his farm of 120 acres, Mr. Phillips has de- voted considerable time to public affairs. He has served three years as Commis- sioner of Highways. and has also held the office of Postmaster. He was one of the organizers of the East Fishkill Telephone Co.
March 3, 1875 he married Susan E. Brackett of the town of Greenfield, Saratoga county, N. Y., and two children were born to them: Joseph W. and Ella A.
SAMUEL K. PHILLIPS, former Judge of Dutchess County, was born in Brook- lyn, N. Y., Feb. 12, 1858. Since the age of four years he has had his home in the village of Matteawan, his father, Edmund S. Phillips, being the first lawyer to locate in that village.
Judge Phillips received his education in private and public schools of the Town of Fishkill, and at an early age began his professional studies in his father's office. He was admitted to the Bar in 1879 and immediately engaged in practice. He has been retained as counsel in nearly all the cases of note in southern Dutchess during the last twenty-five years. He was engaged by the state of New York to take charge of the legal matters in connection with the location of the State Hospital at Matteawan, and later was employed by the state to acquire a right of way for a sewer from that institution to the Hudson River. He is the legal adviser of many of the leading enterprises of the town of Fishkill. He is President of and attorney for the Matteawan Savings Bank, attorney for The Mechanic's Savings Bank of Fishkill Landing, a director of the Matteawan National Bank, and of the Fishkill Railway system. He is a trustee and treasurer of the Highland Hospital, and for over a quarter of a century has been prominently identified with the affairs of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Matteawan.
Judge Phillips possesses the qualities which insure success in public life, and for many years has been a leader of the Republican party of Dutchess County. In 1895 he was elected to the office of County Judge, and was re-elected at the expira- tion of his first term in 1901, having no opponent.
Judge Phillips is a Past Master of Beacon Lodge F. & A. M., a Royal Arch Mason, a Masonic Knight Templar, and a member of the Mystic Shrine.
In October 1885 he married Henrietta, daughter of Luke and Abagail (Darling) Reed, of Hudson, N. Y. They have one son, Samuel Vincent Phillips, a student of Blair Academy, Blairstown, N. J.
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CHARLES W. PILGRIM, M. D., was born at Monroe, Orange County, N. Y., March 27, 1855, a son of Roe C. and Frances Wilkes Pilgrim. He was educated at Monroe Institute, N. Y .; also largely by private tutors and in the academic depart- ment of the New York University, from which institution he graduated in medicine in 1881. He also studied in Europe.
Dr. Pilgrim was house physician, Bellevue Hospital, 1881-82; assistant physician Utica State Hospital, 1881-89, with an intermission of two years in Europe, which time was mostly spent at the Universities of Munich and Vienna; resident physi- cian Frauenklinik, Munich, Bavaria, 1885; medical superintendent, Willard State Hospital, 1889-93; medical superintendent, Hudson River State Hospital, Pough- keepsie, 1893; appointed President of State Commission in Lunacy by Gov. Hig- gins April, 1906, and served until May 1, 1907, when he resigned for the purpose of returning to his old position as Superintendent of the Hudson River State Hospi- tal. He is Vice President of the Poughkeepsie Trust Co .; also a director in several corporations; fellow New York Academy of Medicine; Secretary of the American Medico-Psychological Association; member of the State Medical Society, Medical Society of the County of Dutchess, Bellevue Alumni Association, and the Lotus Club, New York City. For several years he was associate editor of the American Journal of Insanity, and his published contributions upon insanity and allied sub- jects are numerous and important.
Dr. Pilgrim married, in 1889, Florence M. Middleton. He has one child, a daugh- ter, Florence.
WILLIAM BARNES PLATT was born at Pleasant Valley, Feb. 1, 1799, and died at Rhinebeck April 15, 1879. He was a lineal descendant of Richard Platt who came from Huntington, England, and settled in New Haven, Conn. in 1638, purchasing about 90 acres of land, part of which is now in the center of the city.
The Platts were prominent in England in the time of Edward III; in the records of the Heraldy Office in London it is called "The Ancient and honorable family of Platt." William B. Platt's father, John Platt, fought in the Revolution. His mother was Catherine Barnes of Clinton.
Mr. Platt was highly esteemed by a large circle of friends in Dutchess and adjoin- ing counties. He was devoted to the interests of the village of Rhinebeck, and his advice was sought on financial and political matters by people in the various walks of life. He was a devout member of the Old Dutch Church and prominent in all charitable works.
He was President of the First National Bank of Rhinebeck, from 1868 until his death; Trustee of The Rhinebeck Savings Bank, and a director of the Rhinebeck and Connecticut Railroad.
He married Sarah Catherine Stoutenburgh, a lineal descendant of Jacobus Stoutenburgh, who is supposed to have been the first settler in Hyde Park, and who was the owner of one of the nine "water-lots." He came to the county about 1720. They had two children: their son, John H. Platt, was a member of the well known law firm in New York of Hutchings and Platt. He married Mary Cheney of South Manchester, Connecticut. Their children were: John Cheney, Charles
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Adams, Richard Goodman, Elizabeth Platt Jencks and William Barnes, 2d, all living except William Barnes, 2nd.
Their daughter, Elizabeth, married Charles H. Adams of Cohoes, N. Y., State Senator and Congressman from the Albany District, and a member of the historic Adams family who gave us our second and sixth Presidents. Two children sur- vive, Mary Adams Johnston, widow of the late Robert Johnston of Cohoes, N. Y., who has one son, Rev. Robert Johnston of Holy Trinity, New York City; and William Platt Adams, a prominent citizen of Cohoes, N. Y., and director in various financial institutions in Albany County. He married Catherine Whiteman, daugh- ter of Jacob Whiteman Elseffer of Red Hook. They have two daughters, Eliza- beth Platt and Katherine Elseffer. William B. Platt spent most of his long and useful life in the village of Rhinebeck, loved, esteemed and honored.
J. WILSON POUCHER, M. D., of Poughkeepsie, N. Y., was born at Claverack, Columbia county, N. Y., April 24, 1859. After graduating from Claverack College in 1879 he taught school for a year, and then entered the medical department of Union University, graduating in 1883. He practiced two years at Modena, Ulster county, and then went abroad to pursue his studies in surgery and gynecology at Berlin, Vienna and Paris.
When war was declared between the United States and Spain Dr. Poucher offered his services to the government, and was commissioned Lieutenant and Assistant Surgeon of the 201st Regiment N. Y. V. He was detached from the Regiment and given charge of the Division Hospital at Camp Black, L. I. From 1888 to 1898 Dr. Poucher was visiting surgeon at Vassar Brothers Hospital, and is now consulting sur- geon of the Highland Hospital at Matteawan. In 1898 Dr. Poucher established a private hospital in Poughkeepsie with accommodations for eight patients. This building has recently been enlarged. He is a member of the Medical Society of Dutch- ess county, and the New York State Medical Society, and a Fellow of the American Association of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. He is also a member of the Holland Society of New York, the Society of the Cincinnati, and the Masonic fraternity. In public life he has served the city of Poughkeepsie as a member of the Board of Alderman, and for three terms was a member of the Board of Public Works.
In 1892 Dr. Poucher was united in marriage with Catharine D., daughter of the late Jacob LeFevre of New Paltz, who represented that District in Congress from 1892 to 1896.
POUGHKEEPSIE GLASS WORKS, one of Poughkeepsie's thriving industries, was organized as a corporation in November 1880, succeeding the Anglo-American Glass Company which was organized in July 1879, for the purpose of engaging in the manufacture of glass in which iron slag was utilized. A factory was constructed for manufacturing hollow glassware from the scoria, or slag, from blast furnaces but the rise of such an ingredient not proving a success the process of manufacture was changed and the use of slag abandoned. The first successful continuous tank for the manufacture of glass ever constructed in the United States was then erected and the making of glass commenced in March 1880. December 1, 1881 the factory
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was nearly destroyed by fire but was rebuilt, and in one month manufacture was resumed. Fire again visited the factories in April 1897 and many of the storage buildings destroyed. The company then purchased adjoining property and erected the buildings they now occupy. They now have three tanks running day and night and their output has increased from 30,000 gross to 130,000 gross per annum, giving employment to about 350 hands during the busy season. At the organization of the corporation in 1880 the following officers and directors were elected-President, William C. Ely; Vice-president, Henry C. Wisner; secretary, George O. Baker; Treasurer and Superintendent, Evan R. Williams. Board of Trustees, William C. Ely; Charles W. Reed; Charles D. Ely; George O. Baker; Evan R. Williams; George H. Hoyt of Clyde and Henry C. Wisner of Rochester, N. Y. Charles W. Reed had charge of the construction and early operation of the works. The 1908 officers are: President George H. Hoyt, Vice-President, Frank P. Wisner, Secre- tary and attorney, George O. Baker, Treasurer and Superintendent, William G. Baker; General Factory Manager, Robert Good. Directors :- George O. Baker; William G. Baker; Charles P. Buckley; Robert Good; George H. Hoyt; Mary K. Nickols; Frank P. Wisner.
ADRIAN C. RAPELJE, County Engineer of Dutchess county, was born at Hope- well Junction February 3, 1866. He finished his preliminary education at the New- burgh High School, and became connected with the engineering department of the Erie & Wyoming Valley Railroad, where he remained two years during the con- struction of that road. He spent several years in the engineering department of various railroad enterprises, and with the engineering department of the United States Government on surveys and dredge work of the upper Hudson. He was appointed County Engineer of Dutchess county February 3, 1908, at which time he disposed of a coal, feed and lumber business at Hopewell Junction in order that he might devote all his time to his new duties.
June 23, 1892 Mr. Rapelje married Miss Blanche R. King of Chambersburg, Pa., and they became the parents of the following children: Adrian K., Helen R., Law- rence C., and Blanche R. Mrs. Rapelje died December 21, 1901.
LAWRENCE CORTELYOU RAPELJE, for many years a representative citi- zen of Dutchess County, residing in the town of East Fishkill, was born in the City of New York the 26th day of August, 1826, and died at his residence, Hopewell Junction, N. Y., November 30, 1902.
Mr. Rapelje was a son of Daniel Lawrence and Phoebe Cortelyou Rapelje, and a descendant, eight generations removed, of Joris Jansen de Rapelje who settled in New Amsterdam in 1623. His early life was spent in New York City where he re- ceived his education, later entering his business career with the N. Y. & Harlem R. R. Co. In 1857 Mr. Rapelje purchased a farm in the town of East Fishkill upon which the village of Hopewell Junction was subsequently built. In addition to his agricultural pursuits he became interested in many public enterprises. He was one of the organizers and early directors of the Poughkeepsie Bridge Co., the Dutchess & Columbia R. R. Co., a director of the Dutchess Mutual Insurance Co., etc.
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In political views Mr. Rapelje was a Democrat. and served his adopted town eight years as a member of the Board of Supervisors.
Mr. Rapelje was united in marriage in 1855 with Hannah M., daughter of Major Coert Horton, and the following children were born to them: John, Lawrence Wortman, Annie M. (wife of Charles Underhill) and Adrian Cortelyou.
THOMAS REED, one of the oldest members of the New York Stock Exchange was born at Rhinebeck, New York, September 14, 1822. He was of pure English descent, his father and mother both being English born. For many generations his ancestors resided in Cumberland when his grandparents, Thomas and Anna Hall Reed, reared a family of three children; Stephen, who died at sea in 1785; Mary, who died unmarried at the home of her brother in Rhinebeck, and John. The latter was born in 1777 and received his education in his native town. In 1811, determined not to fight against the States he came to America, landing at Quebec. The vessel being searched by the British for able-bodied men, he only escaped being impressed into the service by the wit and ingenuity of the Captain. He was a Baptist in religious faith and was especially active in every form of religious work.
He married Elizabeth Scott Thompson, widow of Robert Thompson and daugh- ter of the Rev. Robert Scott, one of the early settlers of Rhinebeck who came to this country in 1794 from Lincolnshire, Eng. In a record left by himself Robert Scott says he left England sailing from London, Aug. 21, 1794, and arrived in New York, Oct. 10 of the same year.
"My reasons for leaving England" he says, were, first for the sake of religious li- berty, not being able to take the oaths then required of those who dissented from the Episcopal Church; and second for the sake of civil liberty. He was a man of fine talents and his superior education enabled him to become a very successful teacher. In 1796 he opened a school at Rhinebeck, and enrolled the children of some of the best families in New York City, among them being Henry Stokes, President of the Manhattan Life Insurance Co., and Robert Colgate, president of the Atlantic White Lead Works. He published the following works: Antidote to Deism; Chronology from the Creation to the year 1810; "A Treatise on the Millen- ium". and last his own funeral sermon.
He carried on the work of a surveyor with that of a teacher and many of the old maps of the town bear his name. It was he who brought the Baptist Church into Rhinebeck, and on July 5, 1821 at the age of sixty years he was ordained to the gospel ministry and set over the infant church as pastor. He died Sept. 24, 1834. His wife, Elizabeth Kitching survived him twenty years, dying at the age of ninety- four. Of his five daughters, Mrs. Reed was the eldest. She died in 1852, five years before her husband.
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